Four Alternatives to product images for your Social Media content

one of my brand shoot photo flat lays

Forgive me for starting with a cliche but they say: A picture speaks a thousand words. In some ways I have to agree, especially in the age of social media and smart phone scrolling.

The images you post need to speak to your audience loud, clear, and quickly whilst also saying enough to be intriguing to make them stop.

Personally, I find selecting images to go with my writing tricky; I don’t know if it’s because I find the words easy or whether it is being a service-based business with no product to photograph. Over the last two years I have learnt that there are so many ways to fulfill the image element of your content without using a product image.

Brand photo’s

If you have the opportunity to get some brand photos done, then GO FOR IT 100%! Time for another cliche! People buy from people and having photos of the person behind the business helps your audience build trust. After all they will be able to picture who they are talking with when they contact you! With a photographer who you feel comfortable with and sees your vision the same way you do, you will gain a whole catalogue of images to make your content uniquely yours! When preparing for your shoot bear in mind your brand colours and business values when selecting outfits, locations, and those all-important props. The more on brand accessories and props you can find the better. It means you can use software like Canva to crop and edit your photos to focus on different parts when it aids your captions. The possibilities are everywhere. My own brand photos were done by the wonderful Laura Power of Laura Power Photography

If working with a photographer isn’t an option don’t despair; cameras on smart phones these days produce great pictures so with a friend to assist you, a bit of imagination and those outfits and accessories to hand, you can still create some great shots and the flat lays.

Crowd pleasers

These are pictures that audiences go mad for and usually get lots of engagements. They are usually pictures of animals, kids, or really yummy food. When talking about social media engagement I often hear people saying “I don’t get much engagement on my posts until I post a picture of the dog doing something cute and them boom, the stats go crazy! Again, this goes in with the fact that people like to see the relatable real-life people behind the business. I would suggest adding these into your content plan on occasion. If you don’t have pets or sharing pictures of children goes outside your boundaries then food pictures are still successful conversation starters (obviously not such a novelty post if you work in the food industry) after all we all get food envy!

Animals are great crowd pleasers. - Here is my main man Mickey

Stock photos

Not everyone is a fan of them, and I agree that it is usually obvious when you use them but be kind to yourself and others. We don’t always have all the images we need to go with our words in an original image. Using stock photos from places like Unsplash or Pixabay at least means you are staying within copyright laws by using images that the owner has approved for use by other royalty free. Wherever possible when using free stock images, it’s good etiquette to credit the owner for sharing the image. Some independent photographers keep an image library that they will give you access; this usually involves a level of fee per image, but it is definitely worth asking the local photographers in your network.

A nice example of a stock image

Info graphics

If you use info graphics as part of your content, then these become your image. They are great because not only do they present an opportunity to share a little bit more content but when you design them using software like Canva, you can use your specific brand colours to keep your graphics on brand which helps keep your platforms looking consistent and easily recognisable to your audience. If you would like to know more about using Canva to create your info graphic why not check out my blog Three tips to make the most of Canva

One of my earliest info graphics made in Canva

Now I have given you ideas of the types of image options (aside from product pictures); if you would like some specific concepts for actual ideas you can create for individual images then you’re welcome to join my online brainstorming session on : Images to use in your social media on August 7th.